Vegas gamble pays off as Verstappen wins thriller

After a troubling week for Formula One, days of fear and loathing in Las Vegas, the sport finally delivered on the streets of the city to such effect that what was a grand gamble genuinely paid off. The house always wins here, so of course Max Verstappen took the flag for the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix, but he had to fight hard to do it which meant the racing matched the show and made for the spectacle F1 craved.

- Giles Richards

It was outstanding. Verstappen had to come back from both a penalty and an on-track clash with George Russell to take victory. In doing so, the world champion vied thrillingly with Ferrari's second-placed Charles Leclerc and his Red Bull teammate Sergio Pérez, who was third.

The buildup to this meeting, the anticipation, the hype, has been relentless. For Formula One spending what is understood to be $700m to put on the event, acting for the first time as both promoter and organiser - this was their showcase, their Super Bowl; a step up in selling the sport to the US, the market it wants to break more than any other.

F1 had insisted there would be no race without it being in the heart of the city and including Las Vegas Boulevard, the iconic Strip, both of which were achieved. F1 had the backing of the casinos and a backdrop that made this one of Vegas's most striking shows: Caesars, the Bellagio, the Venetian. The cars looked magnificent hurtling past these landmarks at speeds of more than 200mph. It also made it one of Formula One's grandest of stages. Failure here would have been very public indeed.